Source One: Mean Girls

In the movie Mean Girls, Cady Heron

challenges herself to fit in with the popular girls
after moving to a new school. Throughout the
course of the film, Cady becomes less and less
her true self and resorts to following the Plastics, who included the most cliquey girls in her
school. After learning that these girls are actually toxic Cady ultimately decides to take the group
down and discover who she truly is through the process. This film shows what cognitive
dissonance theory can do to a person. Cady changed her whole persona in order to get in with
the Plastics even though she knew it wasn’t who she really was as a person.
I saw this happen a lot in high school. There were people I would befriend because we
had similar likes and dislikes, only to find that they would rather be someone they weren’t just to
get in with the “popular” kids. I have experienced this at one point or another in my life too.
Trying to be someone I wasn’t and having a feeling of dissonance because other people around
me were making choices I knew weren’t ok. In the end, it really gives you an idea of who you
truly are and helps to mature you overall. Dissonance will always play a role in how we act out
in public but I don’t think it needs to be a negative concept.

Source Two: Michael Scott from The

Office

Even if you have seen just one

episode of The Office, you probably got a
sense for what kind of a boss Michael Scott
is. Throughout the show, Scott is portrayed
as someone who doesn’t care, while also
having a strong moral compass. There are certain times where he is given a task that may not
sit well with him. Other times, he’ll do anything to get out of signing paperwork. In one episode
called, Sensitivity Training, Michael has a meeting with his workers to talk about censorship in
the office. To no one's surprise, this is a chance for Michael to talk about explicit and
inappropriate topics in an “open” environment. Everyone feels uncomfortable listening to their
boss talk about sexist issues in the office and no one seems to have a vocal opinion about it.
The entirety of the show highlights Michaels crazy ideas and insecurities about basically
everything.There are some instances of him acting more like his coworker Jim, whom he looks
up to and strives to be more like. Even if it makes him uncomfortable, Michael will do anything to
be as cool as the most valued salesman in the office. I love this show because dissonance is
always a heavy factor in every episode. Regardless of how boring the day is for the employees
at Dunder Mifflin, there is always someone who is experiencing this theory created by Leon
Festinger. I don’t think I will watch this show without remembering the Theory of Cognitive
Dissonance from here on out.

Source Three: Impractical Jokers

This show is probably the most insane idea

of comedy I’ve ever seen. Every episode is the
four comedians going against everything they
believe in to get a laugh from the viewers. After
recently watching a few episodes, I can clearly
see each “joker” experience dissonance in every
prank they perform. The pranks can vary from
trying to make the other joker laugh in a public setting, to pretending like they know how to be a
professional chef in a restaurant setting.
The guys in the group will challenge each other to do crazy things and most of the time,
they don’t want to actually do it. For the fans, and for clout, the guys will do basically anything.
Sure, they may not mind embarrassing themselves a few times, but during some episodes, it
was painful to watch. There is usually so much happening it is hard to keep up. There were
some parts of their show that portrayed the guys doing things that they really insisted on not
doing. Most challenges involved talking to people and saying crude things that they would
normally never say to a person. You can almost cut the dissonance tension with a knife as the
joker contemplates if he should actually say what the rest of the guys are telling him to say. This
show is a great example of cognitive dissonance because it doesn’t matter how the jokers feel.
It is truly up to the rest of the group to decide what is in store for them when it comes to the
pranks.